While European harmonisation continues apace, national differences continue to affect how best to construct a patent claim, say Magdalena Tagowska and Agnieszka Zebrowska-Kucharzyk.

While European harmonisation continues apace, national differences continue to affect how best to construct a patent claim, say Magdalena Tagowska and Agnieszka Zebrowska-Kucharzyk.

According to Article 63, point 2 of the Polish Industrial Property Law (IPL), patent claims should be interpreted based on the specification and drawings. This requirement is not unique to the Polish IPL; a similar regulation can be found in European patent legislation.

However, even though the European legislation predates Poland’s IPL, the actual interpretation of claims differs from one country to another. The question of how to construct patent claims in order to obtain the optimal scope of protection remains crucial.